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Trade Practice Proclamation No. 329-2003

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OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA 9th Year No. 49 ADDIS ABABA - 174h April 2003 CONTENTS Proclamation No. 329/2003 Trade Practice Proclamation Page 2152 PROCLAMATION No. 329/2003 TRADE PRACTICE PROCLAMATION WHEREAS , it is necessary , that trade practice must be undertaken in accordance with the free - market economic policy of the country ; WHEREAS , it is desirable to establish a system that is economic efficiency and social welfare . WHEREAS , it is believed that the regulation of price the public ; NOW , THEREFORE , in accordance with Article 55 ( 1 ) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , it is hereby proclaimed as follows . PART ONE General 1. Short Title This Proclmation may be cited as “ Trade Practice Proclamation No. 329/2003 . ” 2. Definitions Unless the context otherwise requires , in this Proclamation : 1 ) “ Basic goods or services ” means goods or services related to the daily material need of the consumer , the shortage of which in the market may lead to unfair trade practice ; Unit Price The African Law Archive 2 ) “ Ministry ” or “ Minister ” means the Ministry or Minister of Trade and Industry respectively ; 3 ) “ Appropriate Authority ” means the Ministry of Trade and Industry or the concerned Regional 4 ) “ Commission ” means a body established by this Proclamation at a Federal level ; 5 ) “ Consumer ” means any person who buys goods or services for personal consumption ; 6 ) “ goods ” means movable commodities , except monetary gold , moneys in any form , other means of payment , securities and personal effects ; 7 ) “ Person ” means any physical or juridical person ; 8 ) “ Service ” means any dispensing of service for consideration other than salary or wages ; 9 ) “ Secretariat ” means a department under the or ganizational structure of the Ministry , to undertake the responsibility of executing this Proclamation . 10 ) “ Trader ” means any person who professionally and for gain carries on any of those activities specified under Article 5 of the Commercial Code , or who dispenses services , or who carries on those commer cial activities designated as such by laws issued by the Government . 11 ) " Commercial Activity " means any activity carried on by a business person as defined under Sub - Article ( 10 ) of this Article . 3. Objective 1 ) To secure fair competitive process through the prevention and elimination of anti - competitive and unfair trade practices , and 2 ) To safeguard the interests of consumers through the prevention and elimination of any restraints on the efficient supply and distribution of goods and services . 4. Scope of Application This Proclamation shall apply to all person involved in any commercial activity . 5. Exceptions Non - applicability of certain provisions of Proclamation on the following cases may be decided by the Commission . 1 ) Commercial activities that are , according to invest ment proclamation , exclusively reserved for the Government . 2 ) Enterprises having significant impact on develop ment and designed by the Government to fasten growth and facilitate development . 3 ) Basic goods or services that are subject to price regulations . PART TWO Anti - Competitive Practices 6. Prohibition 1 ) No person may directly or idirectly enter into any written or oral agreement that restricts , limits , impedes or in other harms free competition , in the process of production , supply , distribution or marketing of goods and services . The African Law Archive entry into 2 ) Without prejudice to the generality of sub - Article ( 1 ) of this Article , the following agreements shall be deemed to have been anti - competitive ; ( a ) Agreements of jointly fixing prices ; ( b ) Agreements for collusive tendering as to determine market price ; ( c ) Agreements as to market or consumer segmentation ; ( d ) Agreements as to allocation by quota of production and sales ; e ) Concerted refusal to deal , sell and render services . 7. Authorization Notwithstanding the provision of Article 6 ( 1 ) of this Proclamation , the Ministry may authorize agreement , subject to undertaking of appropriate commit ments , after making the necessary studies , and ensuring that advantages of the agreement to the Nation is greater than the disadvantages . 8. Registration Particulars of an authorized agreement done in writing , pursuant to Article 7 of this Proclamation , shall enter in a special register , at the Ministry and be open to the public . The Ministry may cancel authorization of any agreement in the event that the advantages to the Nation are no longer greater than the disadvantages or the parties agreed fail to comply with the terms and conditions of the Agreement . 10. Unfair Competition 1 ) Any act or practice , in the course of commercial activities , that aims at eliminating competitors through different methods shall be deemed to be an act of unfair com petition . 2 ) The following activities , in particular , shall be deemed to be acts of unfair competition . ( a ) Any act that causes , or is likely to cause , confusion with respect to another enterprise or its activities , in particular , the products or services offered by such enterprise ; ( b ) Any act that damages , or is likely to damage the goodwill or reputation of another enterprise falsely ; ( c ) Any act that misleads or is likely to mislead the respect to an enterprise or its activities , in particular , the products or services offered by such enterprise ; ( d ) Any act of disclosure , acquisition or use of infor mation without the consent of the rightful holder of that information in a manner contrary to honest commercial practice ; ( e ) Any false or unjustifiable allegation that discredits , or is likely to descredit with respect to another enterprise or its activities , in paticular the products or services offered by such enterprise ; public with , The African Law Archive ( f ) Any act that directly or indirectly restricts , impedes or weakens the competive production and dis tribution of any commercial good or the renderding of any service . ( g ) Any act that restricts or debars the timely or economic means of producing or distributing any good or rendering of any service ; ( h ) The importation of any goods from any foreign country into Ethiopia at a price less than the actual market price or wholesale price of such goods in the principal markets of the country of their production with the intent to destroy or injure the production of such goods in Ethiopia or to restrict or monopolize any part of trade in such goods ; ( 1 ) Trading in any manner in goods imported into Ethiopia for humanitarian purpose , without authorization by the Ministry ; 11. Abuse of Dominance 1 ) No person may carry on trade which gives oppor tunity to control a relevant market for goods or services ; or limit access to a relevant market or otherwise unduly restrain competition , having or being likely to have adverse effects on market development . 2 ) The following practices shall in particular be deemed to be abuse of dominance . ( a ) The direct or indirect unfair imposition of excessively high or low selling price or service fee or withholding supply or any preemptive behavior to impede entry in to market . ( b ) Acts which may be prejudicial to buyers of goods or services or which may hamper the growth of markets ; ( c ) The selling of similar goods or services to consumers on unequal terms or payments ; ( d ) The application to dealers in transaction of unequal terms in respect of similar goods , thereby placing some at competitive disadvan ( e ) to impose a condition of combined sales on a buyer when the goods or services so combined is not required by the buyer ; ( f ) Issuance of false or misleading commercial statement or notice , concerning goods and services in respect of their quality , quantity , volume , manufacturing process , component , strength , or the time and place of the production of goods or the rendering of services , or other similar conditions ; ( g ) Hoarding , diverting or withholding goods from normal trade channels ; ( h ) _Refusing sales of goods or services to cus tomers without good cause . ( i ) Selling at a price that does not cover production cost to eliminate fair competition . The African Law Archive PART THREE Investigation Commission 12. Establishment It is hereby established an investigation commission which is accountable to the Minister ( hereinafter referred to as the " Commission ” ) to exercise such powers and discharge functions as are conferred on it by this Proclamation . 13. Composition 1 ) The Commission shall have members selected from Government , private organs and consumers sociation . 2 ) . Members of the Commission , including the Chairman thereof , shall be appointed by the Prime Minister upon the recommendation of the Minister . 14. Meetings 1 ) The Commission shall meet regularly once in a month . However , it may hold extraordinary meetings at any time as necessary . 2 ) There shall be a quorum where more than half of the members are present at meetings of the Commission . 3 ) Decisions of the Commission shall pass by majority vote , however , the Chairman shall have a casting vote in case of a tie . 15 Powers of the Commission 1 ) The Commission shall have the following powers : ( a ) to investigate complaints submitted to it by any aggrieved party in violation of the provisions of this Proclamation ; ( b ) to compel any person to submit information and documents necessary for the carrying out of commission's duties . ( c ) to compel witnesses to appear and testify at hearings ; ( d ) to take oaths or affirmations of persons appearing before it , and examine any such persons . ( e ) to enter by Showing the commission's ID card and search the premises of any undertaking during working hours , in order to obtain infor mation or documents necessary for its inves tigation . to appoint or employ , upon the approved of minister , experts to undertake professional studies as may be necessary ; to take administrative measures or / and give penalty decisions on any complaints submitted to 2 ) Any administrative measures or penalty decisions made by the Commission shall be approved by the Minister . 3 ) The Minister may approve , amend or remand for review any decision of Administrative measure or penalty submitted to him by the commission . 4 ) The Commission may delegate part of its powers and duties to the Secretariat to the extent necessary to efficiently discharge its responsibilities . 16. Power of Execution 1 ) The Ministry is hereby authorized by the Proclmation to execute any administrative measures or / and penalty decisions given by the Commission and approved by the minister . 2 ) The Ministry may order the police in order to execute any administrative measures or / and penalty decisions . The African Law Archive 3 ) Any administrative measures or / and penalty de cisions shall be executed after obtaining approval of the Minister in writing . 4 ) Copy of the letter to be written in accordance with Sub - Article ( 3 ) of this Article shall be given to the trader concerned . 17. Appeal 1 ) any party may appeal to the Federal High Court against any administrative measures or / and penalty decisions within 30 days from the date that he was aware of the approval of the execution . 2 ) The Ministry shall not commence the execution of any decision before the expiry of the period laid down under Sub - Article ( 1 ) of this Article , Duties of the Secretariat 1 ) The Secretariat shall have the following duties ; ( a ) implement the directives issued by the Com mission . ( b ) execute administrative measures or / and penalty decision . ( c ) keep minutes , reports , decision and other documents of the Commission . ( d ) prepare forums and disseminate information to enhance public awareness regarding the implementation of this Proclamation . 2 ) Other functions to be performed by the Secretariat shall be determined by the Commission . 19. Rules and Directives of Procedures The Commission shall develop rules and directives of procedures to efficiently undertake its powers and duties . 2 ) The rules and directives of procedures shall be approved by two third of members of the Commis sion . PART FOUR MISCELLANEOUS 20. Indications of Prices of Goods 1 ) Any trader shall , as necessary , display a price list for his goods and services by posting such list in a conspicuous place in his business premise or hy affixing price tags on the goods . 2 ) Indication of prices of goods and services shall include customs , taxes and other fees . 21. Labels of Goods 1 ) Any trader shall , as necessary , fix explanatory labels on the goods for sale or provide such details to the buyer on a separate paper . 2 ) Labels used in connection with goods , shall as appropriate indicate the following particulars : indication of country of production or export : ( b ) weight , volume and quantity of the goods ; ( c ) quality of the goods ; ( d ) statement of the materials used to produce the goods ; ( e ) technical specification of the goods and their operational or utilization methods ; The African Law Archive No. 49 17 April , 2003 – Page 2158 ( f ) safety measures to be considered during the use of the goods ; a warranty or guarantee of a product to be provided by the trader to the buyer . ( h ) other details published in a public notice by the Ministry , in consultation with other ap- ' propriate institution , when deemed necessary to safeguard the public interest . 3 ) Labels on packed goods shall in addition to Sub Article ( 2 ) of this Article indicate the following ( a ) net weight of the good ; name and address of the factory or packer ; ( c ) expiry date of the goods ; ( d ) production date of the goods . Power to Regulate Prices of Basic goods and Services The Ministry may as deemed necessary , submit to the Council of Ministers , its study on basic goods and services that should be subject to price regulation and , upon approval , publish the list and prices of same by public notice . 23. Distribution of Basic Goods The appropriate Authority , in consultation with other concerned institutions , may determine the distribution , sales and movement of basic goods and services and , as necessary , order the trader to replenish the stock of same . 24. Issuing and Keeping of Receipts 1 ) Any trader shall have an obligation to issue receipts to the buyer in respect of the goods or services he sells . 2 ) A trader shall keep copies of receipts issued in respect of the goods or services he sells pursuant to Sub - Article ( 1 ) of this Article or receipts obtained in respect of the goods or services he buys , for not less than 5 ( five ) years . 25. Administrative Measures The Commission may impose the following adminis trative measures , where any person violate the provisions of this Proclamation , Regulations , Public Notice or Directives issued for the implementation of same . 1 ) Suspend , correct or eliminate the practice in question ; 2 ) Suspend or cancel business licence , 3 ) Take any appropriate measure that enable the victim's competitive position to be reinstated . 4 ) Seizure and selling of goods that are subject to price Regulations ; provided that the proceeds less any selling expense shall be paid to the owner , who in no case shall demand interest or any other payments . The African Law Archive 26. Penalties Without prejudice to administrative measures that may be taken pursuant to Article 25 of this Proclamation , the Commission may impose the following penalities , where any person violates the provisions of this Proclamation or Regulations , Public Notice or Direc tives issued for the implementation of same . 1 ) Fine upto 10 per cent of the value of total assets of the violator or 15 % of yearly gross total sales of the violator , alternatively . 2 ) Fine from 5,000.00 ( five thousands ) upto Birr 50,000.00 ( fifty thousands ) where the direct or indirect co - operation of any indivudual in any prohibited practice is proven . 27. Assessment of Fine In fixing the amount of fine , the Commission shall take into consideration the seriousness of the offense , the damage caused , the market share of the violator , the size of the market affected , and the financial status of the violator . 28. Issuance of Public Notice Appropriate authority may issue Public Notice neces sary for the implementation of this Proclamation . 29. Power to Issue Regulations The Council of Ministers or the Regional Councils may issue Regulations necessary for the implementation of this Proclamation . 30. Repealed laws Any law or practices inconsistent with this proclamation shall be inaplicable with regard to matters provided for in this proclamation . 31. Effective Date This Proclamation shall come into force as of the 17th day of April , 2003 . Done at Addis Ababa , this 17eh day of April 2003 . PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA The African Law Archive

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